A zealous attempt to salvage history

Karachi

It was quite a long walk from the main gate of the National Museum to a far, obscure corner of the building.

There, amid unkempt bushes and shrubbery was Mohsin Ikram, a vintage car enthusiast waiting for us. He unlocked a garage door and inside the garage was something that it took time to realise was a car, the bonnet pocked with big holes on account of the thick layer of rust with metal corroded by the elements, the two left wheels sunk into the ground, the left front headlight gone.

The colour of the vehicle could not be determined as it had peeled off under the pressure of years. This was the description of the 1955 model Cadillac owned by the late Madar-e-Millat, Miss Fatima Jinnah. 

Mohsin Ikram, a vintage car enthusiast, has taken upon himself the onerous task of restoring the vehicle to its original state, even though, seeing the mere shell of a car, one wonders how much of it could really be restored. Yet, Mr Ikram sounds very optimistic about the fruition of his mission.

Asked as to why the vehicle was in such a frightfully dilapidated state given that there were much older vintage cars in town that were occasionally displayed by the vintage cars club, Mr Ikram replied that the cars had been pulled out of the garages at Mohatta Palace when the building was to undergo renovation in 1997 and parked out in the open next to the sea. It was the saline air from the sea that had been causing the rust and the corrosion. “The vehicles were towed over to the present sight about a year ago,” he said.

“We feel we shall be able to restore the vehicle to as much an extent as possible,” says Ikram in a tone reflecting optimism. After scrutinising the mere shell of a vehicle, we were led to an adjacent garage, where we were met by a sight that we could have better done without. It was a big, fat mongoose emerging from the shrubbery and staring at us in curiosity. It was a creepy sight we certainly could have done without. Then Mr Ikram unlocked the garage and in there again was a most dilapidated shell of another vehicle. Although a much later model than the Cadillac, it was as decrepit. It was a Mercedes 200, model 1967, again owned by the Madar-e-Millat. The bonnet and the body bore big holes pierced by corrosion, wheels sunk into the ground. However, the pre-historic look of the car just did not seem to dampen Mr Ikram’s enthusiasm. He was sure that both vehicles would be restored to their original state. 

“In 1997, when it was pulled out of the garage at Mohatta Palace, it was in a very good condition,” he says. Labour costs, he says, would be really high. Ikram says that they have undertaken restoration work successfully previously too and in this regard mentioned the case of the two fire engines of the Peshawar Fire brigade, models 1912 and 1916, which he had restored and were pressed into service again. They have a fire engine of the Karachi fire brigade dating back to 1912 which they have on their schedule of restoration.

Ikram’s mission is absolutely altruistic, idealistically motivated. He says that it is incumbent on all of us to preserve our historical heritage, and laments that we as a nation are not at all heritage-conscious even though heritage is the most priceless asset of a nation, a society. It is a nation’s identity. 

By profession he is a travel agent and the owner of an event management company. But vintage cars are his passion, his hobby. His son, Ahsan, runs the vintage and classic cars restoration cars’ company.